Quick Info
Genre : Hard-Rock, Grunge
Label: Atlantic Records
Albums: Leave A Whisper, Live From The Inside
Us And Them, The Sound Of Madness.
Singles: Fly From The Inside, 45, Simple Man, Burning Bright,
Save Me, I Dare You, Heroes,
Devour
Shinedown are;
Brent Smith - Lead vocals 1
Barry Kerch - Drums 1
Zack Myers - Guitar
Nick Perri - Guitar
Eric Bass - Bass Guitar
Jason Todd - Guitar (2001-08)1
Brad Stewart - Bass Guitar (2001-07)1
In The Beginning
Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Shinedown were formed by four friends in 2001, who quickly began writing material and touring locally. After being signed to Atlantic Records in 2002, the band went into studio and began to record their first album, Leave A Whisper, in the July of 2003.
Leave A Whisper reached number 53 in the US Album Chart, and was registered as Platinum before the end of the year. Four singles were released bolstering it's success all of them reaching 5 or higher in the US Mainstream Charts. The album was re-released in 2004 after Shinedown released a cover version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man, in commemoration of the death of "Dimebag" Darrell.
On the back of such commercial success, the band began an extensive list of tour dates in America, the highlight of which was opening for Van Halen. Such a rigorous schedule earned them much respect in the rock community, and a live DVD, entitled 'Live From The Inside', was released in 2005 detailing the tours, and included a full-length concert filmed in The House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Us And Them
Returning to the recording studio after a brief rest, Shinedown released their second album, Us And Them, in the October of 2005, hoping to replicate the success of their debut album. The first single taken from this album, Save Me, was hugely successful, reaching and holding Number 1 on the US Mainstream Chart for 12 weeks, and achieving the highest placement on the Hot 100 for the band, 72. However, the album itself only sold half that of Leave A Whisper.
Hoping the boost sales of the album, Shinedown began touring again early in 2006, joining Seether, Flyleaf, and Halestorm as part of the SnoCare Tour, and supported Trapt on their Equinox tour, all to much acclaim, which only boosted their touring reputation further. Two more singles were released during these touring dates, both of which performed well in the charts, with 'I Dare You' and 'Heroes' reaching numbers 2 and 4 respectively.
Yet another band still to get a UK release is the fantastic Florida based Shinedown who, unlike so many U.S bands have stood the test of a debut album and come back just as strong if not a touch mellower with this their second release.
Us and Them kicks off with 'Heroes' an angst strewn power fest to set the mood. Glad to hear that Brent's voice is as good if not better on this outing having found a comfortable range. If there wasn't enough angst for you they come right back with 'Save me', a sad and powerful story of drug addiction...
A good all round performance with the catchy hooks and melodies you come to expect, crunching guitars and a booming powerful rhythm section. Things can only get better for these slaves to the road
-Amazon.co.uk Review
Recent History/The Sound Of Madness
Shinedown returned once more to the recording studio after a 4-month break to work on the newest album, The Sound Of Madness.
It's time to just go over the top, literally go above and beyond what a human being thinks they're capable of recording. We want to do a huge hard rock record that has a lot of crossover potential, but also some of the most insanely intense and heavy material that this band has ever tried - and see if we can pull it off
-Brent Smith, in an interview with Billboard.com about the latest album.
And they succeeded. Released in June 2008, after being released on
MySpace for listening in May, the album went straight to Number 8 on the
US Album Chart, a personal best for the band. The first single to be taken from the album, '
Devour' was released in May, and it to charted highly in the Mainstream Charts. To further boost the sales of the album, Shinedown are currently touring in the US, and are joining
Disturbed as part of their European tour is the autumn.
Sources
- Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinedown
- Shinedown Official Website - www.shinedown.com
- Official Shinedown Fan Club - www.shinedownnation.com
- Amazon.com - www.amazon.com
1 Original founding members